# Queensland Railways 2170 class

The Queensland Railways 2170 class is an Australian diesel-electric locomotive.
All were built between 1982 and 1984 by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant for Queensland Rail. Most have been sold for further use overseas with seventeen going to South Africa and twelve to Ferronor in Chile.

## The 2100 class family

The Queensland Railways 2100 class first entered service in 1970. The class family consists of the 2100, 2130, 2150 and 2170 classes. It formed the mainstay of Queensland Rail's coal haulage from the opening of the Goonyella line until electrification in the late 1980s.
A new batch of locomotives was ordered with the opening of each new mine and the 2170 class entered service when the German Creek, Oaky Creek and Blair Athol coal mines came into operation. Eleven units were built with Locotrol equipment.

## Manufacturer

The 2170 class was an evolution of the 2150 class. It differed from the earlier class mainly by having modified traction motors, Dash 2 modular electrical cabinets and air-conditioned cabs.
The locomotives were built by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant between 1982 and 1984.

## Modifications

Since the late 1980s, the locomotives have been modified. Modified locomotives had a letter suffix added to their unit numbers. These modifications include:
* A suffix. Weight reduction by reducing fuel tank capacity by 1,300 litres, 2195 only
* D suffix. A driver-only operation (DOO) cab modification, which included lowering the nose of the locomotive and the addition of a larger windscreen for the driver.
* F suffix. The addition of auxiliary fuel tanks.
In 1992-1993, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were fitted with Automatic train protection (ATP). Between 1995 and 1999 eleven received extended cabs to relieve cramping caused by the ATP equipment.
In 2000, an overhaul program commenced which included the fitting of maxi-cabs, similar to that of the 2300 class, to all 43 remaining units. After this, thirty were in "D" configuration with the other thirteen in "F" configuration. Some were fitted with ZTR Nexsys II traction control systems.

## Service

The 2170 class entered service on coal haulage on the Goonyella line. After electrification, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were placed into general traffic between Brisbane and the South West and on the North Coast line between Rockhampton and Townsville. Meanwhile, numbers 2202 to 2210 were relocated to Townsville in 1988 to haul Greenvale mineral trains and, from 1993, trains on the Mount Isa line. In the late 1990s, they were re-allocated to Gladstone to operate Moura line coal trains.
When the 4100 class entered service, the 2170 class began to be withdrawn from service. Along with Queensland Rail's freight operations, all, apart from 2195, passed to QR National (now Aurizon) in July 2010.

## Disposal

Many of the 2170 class have been sold by Aurizon.
* In August 2013, three were placed on consignment with Apex Industrial and exported to South Africa. They were shipped from Brisbane to Durban on the ship BBC Carolina on 22 August 2013. Two were sold to African Rail & Traction Services while the third went to RRL Grindrod Locomotives.
* In July 2014, three were sold by Aurizon back to Queensland Rail to haul its passenger trains.
* In 2014, fourteen were purchased by Transnet Freight Rail and exported to South Africa as the Class 35-800.
* In June 2016, twelve were sold to Ferronor in Chile.

## Transnet Freight Rail

The Transnet locomotives were renumbered in the range from D35-801 to D35-814, following their Aurizon number sequence and retaining the driver-only operation (DOO) "D" as a prefix to the unit number.
At least eight of the Class 35-800 units were allocated to the Western Cape system and are based at Bellville Locomotive Depot. Of those, at least six have been superficially repainted in a shop version of the red Transnet Freight Rail livery and appear to be in service working the West Coast lines. In most cases the old Aurizon numbers are still visible under the red paint. Repainting was done only on the upper bodywork and everything from the running boards down were left as it was. This includes the buffer beams and cowcatchers, probably since the Australian yellow and grey chevron pattern on the buffer beams is an inverted version of the yellow and grey pattern used by Transnet Freight Rail. At least four of the remaining units are believed to have been allocated to the Eastern Cape system.
With the addition of the Class 35-800s, the South African Class 35 locomotive family now consists of five classes, the General Electric (GE) Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the GM-EMD Classes 35-200, 35-600 and 35-800.

## Watco Australia

In 2019, after being awarded a grain haulage contract in Queensland, Watco Australia purchased 5 of the 2170s sold to Transnet (2180, 2181, 2183, 2184 and 2188) and shipped them back to Queensland by NGL Projects. They arrived at the Port of Brisbane on 2 July 2019, and the first loco, 2188D, was transferred to Watco's new facilities in Warwick on 31 July 2019. They will be used on Watco's grain and cattle services, in conjunction with the brand new WRA class, currently being built by NRE in the United States.

## Status table

The present owner, builder's works numbers, dates in service and disposition are listed in the table.
Queensland Railways 2170 class South African Class 35-800 :
| Loco no. | Owner | Works no. | In service | Withdrawn | Disposition |
| 2170D | Ferronor | 82-1100 | 3 Mar 1982 | | |
| 2171D | Ferronor | 82-1101 | 9 Mar 1982 | | |
| 2172F | African Rail & Traction Services | 82-1102 | 19 Mar 1982 | | |
| 2173D | Transnet Freight Rail | 82-1103 | 31 Mar 1982 | | TFR no. D35-801 likely |
| 2174D | Watco Australia | 82-1104 | 15 Apr 1982 | | TFR no. D35-802 |
| 2175D | | 82-1105 | 27 Apr 1982 | 25 Aug 1989 | Scrapped |
| 2176D | Ferronor | 82-1106 | 7 May 1982 | | |
| 2177D | Watco Australia | 82-1107 | 21 Jun 1982 | | TFR no. D35-803 |
| 2178D | Ferronor | 82-1108 | 1 Jun 1982 | | |
| 2179D | Ferronor | 82-1109 | 16 Jun 1982 | | |
| 2180D | Watco Australia | 82-1125 | 25 Jun 1982 | | TFR no. D35-804 |
| 2181D | Watco Australia | 83-1146 | 10 Feb 1983 | | TFR no. D35-805 |
| 2182D | Aurizon | 83-1147 | 22 Feb 1983 | | In service |
| 2183D | Watco Australia | 83-1148 | 3 Mar 1983 | | TFR no. D35-806 |
| 2184D | Watco Australia | 83-1149 | 9 Mar 1983 | | TFR no. D35-807 |
| 2185D | Grindrod Locomotives | 83-1150 | 21 Mar 1983 | | |
| 2186F | Ferronor | 83-1151 | 29 Mar 1983 | | |
| 2187D | | 83-1152 | 8 Apr 1983 | 7 Aug 1995 | Scrapped |
| 2188D | Watco Australia | 83-1153 | 20 Apr 1983 | | TFR no. D35-808 |
| 2189F | Aurizon | 83-1154 | 4 May 1983 | | In service |
| 2190D | Aurizon | 83-1155 | 16 May 1983 | | In service |
| 2191F | Aurizon | 83-1156 | 24 May 1983 | | In service |
| 2192F | Aurizon | 83-1157 | 1 Jun 1983 | | Stored |
| 2193F | Aurizon | 83-1158 | 14 Jun 1983 | | Stored |
| 2194F | Aurizon | 83-1159 | 22 Jun 1983 | | In service |
| 2195A | Queensland Rail | 83-1160 | 29 Jun 1983 | | In service |
| 2196F | Aurizon | 83-1161 | 14 Jul 1983 | | In service |
| 2197F | Aurizon | 83-1162 | 28 Jul 1983 | | Stored Redbank Railway Workshops |
| 2198F | Aurizon | 84-1218 | 22 Feb 1984 | | Stored |
| 2199F | Aurizon | 83-1163 | 10 Aug 1983 | | Stored |
| 2200F | Aurizon | 83-1164 | 17 Aug 1983 | | In service |
| 2201D | Ferronor | 83-1165 | 31 Aug 1983 | | |
| 2202D | Watco Australia | 83-1166 | 9 Sep 1983 | | TFR no. D35-809 |
| 2203D | Ferronor | 83-1167 | 19 Sep 1983 | | |
| 2204D | African Rail & Traction Services | 83-1168 | 30 Sep 1983 | | |
| 2205D | Transnet Freight Rail | 83-1169 | 10 Oct 1983 | 11 Jan 2001 | TFR no. D35-810 likely |
| 2206D | Watco Australia | 83-1170 | 19 Oct 1983 | 11 Jan 2001 | TFR no. D35-811 |
| 2207D | Transnet Freight Rail | 83-1171 | 28 Oct 1983 | | TFR no. D35-812 |
| 2208D | Aurizon | 83-1172 | 9 Nov 1983 | | In service |
| 2209D | Transnet Freight Rail | 83-1173 | 21 Nov 1983 | | TFR no. D35-813 |
| 2210D | Transnet Freight Rail | 83-1174 | 30 Nov 1983 | | TFR no. D35-814 |
| 2211D | Ferronor | 83-1175 | 14 Dec 1983 | | |
| 2212D | Ferronor | 83-1176 | 12 Jan 1984 | | |
| 2213D | Ferronor | 83-1177 | 23 Jan 1984 | | |
| 2214D | Ferronor | 83-1178 | 3 Feb 1984 | | |

## Gallery

* Queensland Rail 2174D traversing Denison St, Rockhampton, c. 2000 (Now TFR no. D35-802)
* No. 2180D at Beaconsfield, Kimberley, 7 October 2015 (renumbered D35-804, bought by Watco, renumbered again to 2180W)
* No. 2202D at Pyramid South, Gauteng, 22 September 2015 (Now TFR no. D35-809)
* TFR no. D35-803 at Bellville Loco, 4 July 2017 (Ex QR 2170 Class no. 2177D)
* 2183D at Fisherman's Island